Hotline After Dark -- The Upside Of Anger

"World News" led with a taped interview with Maersk Alabama crew members and featured an interview with Mexican Pres. Felipe Calderón. "Evening News" led with the Tax Day Tea Parties. "Nightly News" led with Tax Day Tea Parties and featured an interview with Calderón.

"Hannity" was live from the tea party in Atlanta. Guests included ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), "Joe the Plumber" Samuel Wurzelbacher, ex-AR Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) and Rep. Tom Price (R-GA).

FNC's Hannity: "I am joined by well over 15,000 Americans. By the end of this night, it may be close to 20,000. They have gathered here on this tax day to make their voices heard."

Gingrich, from a tea party in NY: "This is a key day. I hope every American across the country will call their senator and their congressman and say, beat the budget, make them write a new budget, take out the spending increases, take out the tax increases, get government under control. ... This is a battle between responsibility and absolute power grabs by irresponsible politicians."

More after the jump, including Calderón on Pres. Obama's upcoming trip to Mexico.

(KATHERINE LEHR)

Wurzelbacher: "I figured the American people would step up a little faster than we have. But we have now. ... Just look at the excitement here. I mean this isn't going to go away any time soon. This is the start."

Huckabee, from a tea party in SC: "The mainstream media is going to give more attention to six women dressed up in pink uniforms protesting the war than they will six million Americans standing across this country today. But they can do all they want. When it gets down to it, six million votes beats six votes any day."

Price: "It's the beginning of a movement that's going to sweep the nation, I believe" (FNC, 4/15).

Among the other reaction:

Ex-House Maj. Leader Dick Armey (R), on whether he thinks people participating in the tea parties are "creating a movement," or if this is a "one-day situation": "No, this is not a one-day situation. ... They are planning a really consistent pattern of grassroots activism on such things as town hall meetings, congressional writing campaigns. This is not going away."

More Armey: "I know that an awful lot of the liberals think that this is a one-trick pony and that tonight will be the end of it. And I have to say, if they can believe that, they believe it at their peril" ("No Bias, No Bull," CNN, 4/15).

RNC Chair Michael Steele: "Let's not put too much in what the news agencies are going to be reporting. We witnessed the MSNBC's of the world to denigrate these individuals, these men and women who have expressed real concern about where their hard earned tax dollars are going. We have watched them make fun of them and sort of dismiss them" ("On the Record," FNC, 4/15).

Dallas Morning News' Slater, on attending the same tea party as TX Gov. Rick Perry (R): "There were elements that were absolutely mainstream Republican. ... You had the orthodox members of the party ... including the governor, who were speaking. ... But what you also saw was this sort of fringe group, the secessionists, the militia types, the conspiracy theorists, sort of the marginalia of the radical right. ... What was new today was that you had a group that usually comes in the back door really come through the front door, and the governor appealing directly to them as part of a larger political pitch."

More Slater: "Rick Perry is appealing to them because he's got a primary against Kay Bailey Hutchison, seen as a more moderate Republican challenger next March" ("Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, 4/15).

CNN's Borger, on what GOPers hope to gain from the tea parties: "Their sense is, look, this is about rebuilding your base. It's not very easy, after you have lost an election, to reconstitute a party. But what they're trying to do is, if the house burned down, they're trying to get the foundation in order. So, you go to your stalwart supporters, and you go to them on an issue that is a tried-and-true issue, which is the anti-tax issue for Republicans" ("Situation Room," 4/15).

Newsweek's Fineman, who attended a tea party in KY: "It was grassrootsy. ... There are some people who'd never been in politics before, but it doesn't add up to a party, and it doesn't really add up to a movement. This is always part of the American landscape. People who fear Washington, who fear being controlled by outside forces, who fear the other, fear the 'them.' ... Nothing more, but nothing less than that" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 4/15).

Washington Times' Birnbaum: "The political right seems as adept, if not more adept, at using social networking, the Internet, Twitter, Facebook ... to have these net roots sort of organizations. ... The question, I think, is, will this be turned from a group of angry people about the size of government and taxation into an electoral movement?" ("Special Report," FNC, 4/15).

CNN's Crowley, on how big a problem the anti-tax protests are for Obama: "It's something that he has to watch. ... We had a recent CNN poll and people who supported the way President Obama is handling taxes was in the 60 percent range. So right now, he doesn't have to worry. But certainly, moving forward, if he needs more money, and a lot of people think he will eventually have to raise some taxes, this is a group and an issue he has to listen to" ("Lou Dobbs Tonight," CNN, 4/15).

Washington Post's Robinson: "While these demonstrations were not like the height of opposition to the Vietnam War, they did get people out. They did kind of create an event. And I think if you were running the Republican Party right now, or the conservative movement, you'd say that's a step forward. It's a good day for them."

Chicago Tribune's Page, in response: "That one problem, though, this is kind of an orphan movement. There's no leader out there, a distinctive leader to kind of galvanize it all" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 4/15).

BIG PROBLEMO

Meanwhile, Calderón sat down with ABC's Moran.

Calderón, asked if Americans bear a large share of the responsibility for the violence in Mexico: "The reason of this problem was the demand of drugs in the United States. My idea is not to blame the United States all the time. My idea is, we need to talk about that, we need to realize and recognize that this is a common problem, and we need to solve our common problem."

Calderón, asked if he considers the fence along the U.S./Mexico border an insult: "A lot of people consider that. I respect the rights of every single country to establish the conditions to enforce the law, but I cannot say that it's a friendly attitude from one neighbor to the other" ("World News," 4/15).

Calderón, asked if he wants to see tougher gun laws in the U.S.: "Well, what I want to see is more commitment coming from all the institutions, not only the White House, but also the Congress, the media, the American society" ("Nightline," 4/15).

Calderón also spoke with NBC's Mitchell.

Mitchell: "President Calderón will tell President Obama the U.S. needs to clean up its own drug problem."

Calderón: "Naturally, the source of the problem was the huge demand for drugs in the United States, the largest market in the world for drugs. You, in the United States, you have a lot of traffic of drugs. You have a lot of distribution of drugs. You have a lot of corruption as well."

Mitchell: "President Calderón also told me that he is willing to be a go-between, between the United States and Havana. He says he sees a big change of attitude in America under President Obama, and together, he says, he thinks they can make history in Latin America" ("Nightly News," 4/15).